Generally, communication systems utilize a particular technology for exchanging information. At a first device, a transmitter uses the particular technology to generate and transmit a communication signal. At a second device, a receiver uses the particular technology to receive the communication signal.
However, communicating with only a single technology can be problematic. Other devices using a different communication technology are unable to communicate with the first and second device.
One technique to overcome this limitation is to incorporate first and second communication technologies into a single device. This permits the single device to communicate with other devices using either technology.
One technique to incorporate the first and second technologies into a single device is to construct two separate transmission chains, one for each of the technologies. Thus, each chain includes separate amplifiers, antenna, and the like. However, having separate transmission chains substantially increases the costs and complexity. Another technique is to develop and utilize a schedule where time slots are allocated to each communication technology. Then, the first technology is used only in its assigned time slots and the second technology is used only in its assigned time slots. However, devices may utilize incorrect time slots for a given communication technology. Additionally, throughput is substantially slowed as only one communication technology can be used at a time. Finally, establishing a schedule for all devices that may want to communicate can be problematic.